Liara T'soni Kotobukiya Figure Review!

So if you're not aware, Kotobukiya is a Japanese figure creator, that does a variety of manga related statues. They also do western superheroes like Catwoman, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix and so on, but using an anime aesthetic. They also did Batman for the Batman Arkham City collectors edition statue. It was announced that they would be doing Liara T'soni, and when the first images were released there were a few complaints. Namely the size of her breasts.

The original sculpt had much larger breasts then Liara does, and after the complaints, the sculptor reduced them to look more natural. I got my hands on the figure pretty early and I did a review. I have to say it's actually pretty fantastic. Check out the video below and tell me what you guys think:

Edit: Added pictures of my collection as per request. I am indeed a nerd. Confirmed:

So if you're not aware, Kotobukiya is a Japanese figure creator, that does a variety of manga related statues. They also do western superheroes like Catwoman, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix and so on, but using an anime aesthetic. They also did Batman for the Batman Arkham City collectors edition statue. It was announced that they would be doing Liara T'soni, and when the first images were released there were a few complaints. Namely the size of her breasts.

The original sculpt had much larger breasts then Liara does, and after the complaints, the sculptor reduced them to look more natural. I got my hands on the figure pretty early and I did a review. I have to say it's actually pretty fantastic. Check out the video below and tell me what you guys think:

Edit: Added pictures of my collection as per request. I am indeed a nerd. Confirmed:

I was looking at this and thinking it would be a pretty neat thing to have on a desk, in a vacuum. Unfortuantely I'd be judged far too harshly for owning one, so appreciating pictures of the sculpts has to be good enough for me. Pretty cool, I just hate the generic anime face, it really doesn't look like her.

I was looking at this and thinking it would be a pretty neat thing to have on a desk, in a vacuum. Unfortuantely I'd be judged far too harshly for owning one, so appreciating pictures of the sculpts has to be good enough for me. Pretty cool, I just hate the generic anime face, it really doesn't look like her.

I've already lost myself. Once you own one, it's hard to stop. But yeah, I'm not too worried about owning them, as long as they don't overrun any part of my house.

As for the face, it's actually decent. You know, just anime. It's still recognizable as Liara I think.

I would like it more if it was true to the character instead of true to the sculptor's interests. It looks like a different asari wearing Liara's clothes. Liara has facial features that make her Liara, this is the same as putting Vida Guerra's face on a soldier body and calling it Ashley.

@LiquidPrince: Just how many of these things do you have, anyway? Now I'm curious. I'm assuming if you're making youtube videos, you probably have a little resin family photo or two you'd like to show off as well.

@Brodehouse said:

I would like it more if it was true to the character instead of true to the sculptor's interests. It looks like a different asari wearing Liara's clothes. Liara has facial features that make her Liara, this is the same as putting Vida Guerra's face on a soldier body and calling it Ashley.

@LiquidPrince: Just how many of these things do you have, anyway? Now I'm curious. I'm assuming if you're making youtube videos, you probably have a little resin family photo or two you'd like to show off as well.

I actually haven't photographed my collection. Their mostly One Piece related, but I have some gaming ones as well. I have 16-19 depending on if you count the Play Arts Kai Final Fantasy figures as statues. Should I take a picture?

@LiquidPrince: Just how many of these things do you have, anyway? Now I'm curious. I'm assuming if you're making youtube videos, you probably have a little resin family photo or two you'd like to show off as well.

I actually haven't photographed my collection. Their mostly One Piece related, but I have some gaming ones as well. I have 16-19 depending on if you count the Play Arts Kai Final Fantasy figures as statues. Should I take a picture?

Go for it, I'll nerd out by proxy. Might also be worth gathering up the gaming related ones, making a full blog post about it, and posting that to General Discussion.

As creepy as I find the hobby of collecting sexy anime dolls, I find these long, drawn-out reviews infinitely more so. Especially the uncomfortable and continuous pans of the entire model.

The pans are not some sort of voyeuristic fantasy thing. It's just done for practicality sake. People want to know things like what the figure looks like up close and far away, what the sculpt looks like, seams etc... Anyways, I'm not embarrassed of them, so you can judge all you want. Internet people judging me doesn't matter to me.

Very nice collection, and man I really want to watch one piece I wonder whats the best place to buy the seasons.

Honestly, probably Amazon. Funimation has been releasing new boxsets with double the amount of episodes (26 episodes) for half the price ($20). That's the fastest and cheapest way to watch the show... legally.

Speaking of Liara's breasts, anyone else notice that it looks like they grow about two cup sizes when choosing the alternate outfit? Not sure about in game, but toggle between her two available outfits in the pre-mission menu sometime. The difference is quite noticeable, and just a bit creepy.

@zombie2011: It looks better in person. But yeah, it's not the greatest. Doing realistic human or humanesque faces is very hard. Any figure based on a real face that actually resembles the real face costs tons more money. Eg, the Jack Sparrow figure, which I believe costs around $250.

@Abyssfull: That's kind of annoying. Why is there this preconception that if you have an affinity for collecting a few figures you're some sort of creepy nerd. I am in good shape, have a gorgeous girlfriend, and have a ton of different hobbies. One of these hobbies is collecting figures. Not even that many. A select few. I'm sorry if that creeps you out for some reason.

@LiquidPrince: I don't care who you are. I just think figurines like that Liara one are creepy and pandering. As others have said, it doesn't even look a whole lot like her. It's just what some artist wanted her to look like, and that is apparently as some anime character with even larger boobs.

@LiquidPrince: I don't care who you are. I just think figurines like that Liara one are creepy and pandering. As others have said, it doesn't even look a whole lot like her. It's just what some artist wanted her to look like, and that is apparently as some anime character with even larger boobs.

It looks enough like her. No one is going to mistake her for anyone other then Liara. As for her breasts, they aren't even that big. They were quite large originally, but as they are now, don't even stand out. Woman have breasts, men generally like big breasts. Liara had big breasts. People complained. Now her breasts are accurately sized. Breasts.

@LiquidPrince: Only because of the outfit. She could even be wearing her original scientist uniform from Mass Effect and unless someone told me--with that face in particular--I wouldn't of guessed and figured she was just a 'default Asari' model.

@LiquidPrince: Only because of the outfit. She could even be wearing her original scientist uniform from Mass Effect and unless someone told me--with that face in particular--I wouldn't of guessed and figured she was just a 'default Asari' model.

I disagree. As I look up at her face while typing this, I can very much see Liara in there.

It's pretty good for what it is, an anime figure. The costume and guns look great. The face sure isn't her and the chest is still weird, though the cutesy anime pose might make everything appear more "off". It's a well done little figure though.

Love the New World-One Piece figures. I am jealous, but you need Robin and Brook. For some reason I recently chose to re-watch the whole series (I've got about 16 episodes left to be caught up) and seeing the design update was jarring and pleasing if you consider that they really haven't changed much since 1997. Still, I'm excited and I'd love to have a set of the whole crew. Oh, and the New World Perona figure, too which I think comes out in May.

It really is a double standard. I think it's a combination of a stigma against men playing with dolls, the complete lack of penetration (lolz) of resin sculptures into the American mainstream as anything but toys (even though you can't play with them, just admire the artistic skill and aesthetics), and the fact that it's a sculpture of an attractive cartoon lady. Americans in particular are incredibly uncomfortable with sexualized depictions of women, and there''s also a hyper-paranoia about the objectification of women to contend with.

I think your Catherine is freaking incredible and I'd love to own it, but I'm self-conscious enough that I'd hide it away in a box in a closet somewhere.

The real irony here is that I could draw the exact same thing in 2D and there'd be zero shame in it. Purchasing a print, slightly creepier, but still less creepy by the standards of society.

Ultimately though it's 90% that it's a figure of a girl. Kotobukaki or whatever they're called made a sweet Batman for the Arkham City special edition (which you also own and display), and no one would look at that twice. I mean, it makes you nerdy, but displaying comic book memorabilia tends to do that and it's still pretty cool in some circles. If you sculpted a sexy anime girl yourself and put it on display, it's understandable. You're proud of your work, and why wouldn't you be?

I guess it's the displaying of it that's a bit creepy. People wonder what the message is there. When you display something, you're trying to say something about yourself, but what do half-naked statues of cartoon women say about you? The short and easy answer from people who want nothing to do with this is "you're creepy," and I don't see that changing any time soon unless society changes.

For what it's worth, I picked up this sweet autographed print of Wonder Woman a while back at comic con that I'd love to stick on a wall, but I don't have your cojones.

@onan: For me personally, it's the way that Liara was depicted. That silly pose, the way her face was remodelled to suit the artists' preferences over what she actually looks like, and those melon tits of hers was his original intention and he would of gone through with it had it not been for the outcry and their dog! (lame scooby reference, also seeing a lot of coincidences here regarding another particular outcry with ME3 :P).

I don't collect nor would I display toys/figurines on my shelves because eh, I wouldn't see the point, and I would never spend the ludicrous amount of money they cost just for a toy. But I guess I can understand why some people do; that Batman figure looks pretty bitchin for example, and a lot of people out there have respect for Batman and maybe even consider him a role model. It's understandable why someone would place that there out of respect for an icon. And if Liara actually looked like Liara, and wasn't posing like she's about to begin a lap dance (instead maybe showing her about to perform a singularity or something, or with her reading through her omni-tool), then I would also understand why some people would have a figurine of her. She's a likeable character, and while... sure, maybe it is relevant to how she's represented in the ME games considering she's sort of a video-game sex-symbol, the model only covers the sex-symbol side without indulging her intelligent, Prothean-obsessed side. It's pure eye-candy, toy porn even, there just to ogle at with no real meaning behind it.

Also I noticed he has a model of a hentai bible black character--the fact that I recognise it is admittedly pretty embarrassing, but that's from a long time ago--and having that sort of character on display is creepy, no doubt in my mind.

@onan: For me personally, it's the way that Liara was depicted. That silly pose, the way her face was remodelled to suit the artists' preferences over what she actually looks like, and those melon tits of hers was his original intention and he would of gone through with it had it not been for the outcry and their dog! (lame scooby reference, also seeing a lot of coincidences here regarding another particular outcry with ME3 :P).

I don't collect nor would I display toys/figurines on my shelves because eh, I wouldn't see the point, and I would never spend the ludicrous amount of money they cost just for a toy. But I can guess I can understand why some people do; that Batman figure looks pretty bitchin for example, and a lot of people out there have respect for Batman and maybe even consider him a role model. It's understandable why someone would place that there out of respect for an icon. And if Liara actually looked like Liara, and wasn't posing like she's about to begin a lap dance (instead maybe showing her about to perform a singularity or something, or with her reading through her omni-tool), then I would also understand why some people would have a figurine of her. She's a likeable character, and while... sure, maybe it is relevant to how she's represented in the ME games considering she's sort of a video-game sex-symbol, the model only covers the sex-symbol side without indulging her intelligent, Prothean-obsessed side. It's pure eye-candy, toy porn even, there just to ogle at with no real meaning behind it.

Also I noticed he has a model of a hentai bible black character--the fact that I recognise it is admittedly pretty embarrassing, but that's from a long time ago--and having that sort of character on display is creepy, no doubt in my mind.

Except that the position in which Liara is standing is an actual pose people strike when holding firearms. As for the BB figure yeah, I was apprehensive about posing that one, but it has no nudity, so I didn't end up caring. It's not like anyone knows what it's from. The fact that you know what it's from says more about you then it does about me. I'm not insecure, and don't really care about what people such as yourself think about me regarding this matter. People in my life don't care, my friends and girlfirend actually bought me a few of them. So whatever.

And I really don't know what me seeing a few BB episodes in the past says about me (besides being a highly confused teenager), and whatever it is it says it a hell of a lot more about you considering you're displaying a figurine for one of its 'characters'. I mean, again, besides the obvious intention being to just... look at it, why would you place up a figure like that?

Actually, don't answer, because you don't even care what people like 'myself', whatever that implies, thinks anyway. So whatever. =D

And I really don't know what me seeing a few BB episodes in the past says about me (besides being a highly confused teenager), and whatever it is it says it a hell of a lot more about you considering you're displaying a figurine for one of its 'characters'. I mean, again, besides the obvious intention being to just... look at it, why would you place up a figure like that?

Actually, don't answer, because you don't even care what people like 'myself', whatever that implies, thinks anyway. So whatever. =D

Because I like the way it looks. That's why I pose it. It looks sexy. It's no different then the posters of girls I have hanging on my wall or the wallpaper of Poison that currently graces my desktop wallpaper. I am of a fan of the female form in all of its depictions, be it drawings, photos, sculptures or reality. Also, I don't mean to insult you (even though you pretty much insulted me) by saying people like "you." I don't mean you specifically. I mean the greater being that is the anonymous internet person. I respect your opinion enough on the internet and have even agreed with you in numerous other posts about numerous other things. I just don't like someone coming in here and saying you're a creep and frankly I don't care. People out there do and collect far worse things.